Alpha Aidan's Rejection Chapter 29

AIDAN

　　Whatever device was placed under my car had a lifeline, and however long that was, it had started counting down already.

　　Beads of sweat formed across my head, but I didn't dare release my hands from my deathly grip on the steering wheel in an attempt to wipe it off as I sat frozen on the spot.

　　"Think, Aidan, think!" I bit out, racking my brain.

　　The steady beep kept going, and the seconds kept counting down.

　　Taking deep breaths to calm myself, I put two and two together.

　　It was most likely an explosive, and disabling it was out of the question. I couldn't exactly call for help as I didn't know how much time I had, and for my safety, I had to assume that the slightest movement would trigger the explosive to go off.

　　I looked around me and exhaled a small breath when I realized that the area where I had parked was farther away from where people walked through.

　　It boiled down to this.

　　"No one else is close by, so nobody else can get hurt. I just have to find a way out of here fast enough to not be blown to bits," I said to myself, nodding in encouragement.

　　As slowly as I could, I released one hand from the steering wheel, and with fingers as light as possible, I pushed the window button and watched it slide down.

　　Sweat rolled down my back and to other unwanted places, and I swallowed a dry gulp.

　　Now I just had to channel my…

　　"Hey, bucko! You should have listened when you had the chance to," I heard someone say through my heightened hearing, and my head snapped in its direction.

　　At least fifteen meters away, just far enough that he wouldn't be seen or suspected, Collin stood among some bushes with that smug look playing on his face.

　　Realization dawned on me that this was his handiwork. Now it made sense why he took so much time to come out earlier. That was because he was freaking setting up a trap for me.

　　And I fell right into it.

　　"You are such a freaking coward, Collin," I snapped, sure that he too could hear me. "If a fight was what you were looking for, you would have faced me like a real alpha, and not snuck around to hide explosives in my car."

　　He laughed, clearly enjoying his little games.

　　"What makes you think I care about that? All I want is for you to never breathe in this direction again."

　　Squinting my eyes, I noticed that Collin had a small remote control in his hand, and that gave me some relief.

　　Knowing how egotistical he was, he would want to enjoy this some more by taunting me to see the look on my face before he did anything drastic.

　　I needed to distract him and buy myself some time.

　　"I told you I was going to leave. I just needed to see things through with…"

　　I stopped myself.

　　Seeing what Collin was doing now, I wasn't going to reveal anything about Tara or Nadia to him. That would be like throwing a sheep to a wild bear.

　　Collin was a threat, and I didn't like threats. When Nadia and Tara were involved, I fucking detested threats, and I wasn't going to stand them.

　　"With what?" Collin barked from where he stood. "Taking over my pack?"

　　"Get out of your head, man. I don't give two shits about this place."

　　If it was possible, I would leave and never return, but the most important parts of me were here.

　　"Let me go, Collin," I said through the distance, and he pretended to be thinking about it.

　　"Fine," Collin said, surprising me. That was until he spoke again with his teeth on full display, and him laughing maniacally as he spoke. "But consider this a fair warning. Your time starts… now. Five. Four. Three…"

　　Shit.

　　Channeling my speed, I let my wolf take control, and I zoomed out of the car through the window, snapping the seatbelt loose in the process.

　　My face barely met the floor before the deafening boom pierced through the air, accompanied by blasts of red and smoke.

　　The force from the explosion shot me more distance away, and my ribs hit the floor with a violent thud, causing me to stifle a pained groan. My ears kept ringing till I picked myself up from the dirt, coughing and wheezing.

　　My ribs were definitely broken, and it would take at least thirty minutes for my healing to fully complete.

　　With my arm over my broken ribs, I watched the flames swallow my rental car and reduce it to crisps. By the time I collected myself, I looked to the spot where Collin was initially hiding, and he was gone without a trace.

　　"Coward," I muttered, shuffling my feet away from the chaos.

　　Luckily for me, my phone was in my pocket throughout, so I pulled it out, and placed a direct call to Jace.

　　He picked on the first ring.

　　"Are you busy?"

　　He sounded distant. "If it isn't urgent, then yes, I am."

　　"An explosive was placed in my car. It's shredded. I'll send you the location. Help me get it cleaned up from here, and I need a new one. Fast."

　　"Shit," Jace cursed. "A-Are you okay?"

　　"Just a few scratches here and there," I said, examining the tear on the elbow of my sleeves. The skin was peeled quite badly, but it was closing up faster than my ribs were healing.

　　I heard Jace breathe out a sigh before he spoke again. "I'm on my way. Go take care of yourself, I'll handle the mess."

　　"Thanks, Jace," I replied, then I ended the call.

　　Taking one last look at the ruin that Collin caused, I gritted my teeth so hard that bits could chip off.

　　For the last week, I had been nothing but peaceful. I went out of my way and chewed down my pride in an attempt to make things work between us, but what did I get in return?

　　An attempt to scare me into a hole disguised as 'a fair warning'.

　　Collin just made a mistake. One he was going to pay dearly for. Whatever war he thought he could fight, I could do it in three folds.

　　Taking one last look at the flames that were now fading into small sparks and more black smoke, I turned my back to it and made my way back to the hotel.

　　I earlier planned on going to see Tara after I visited Collin's place, but that would have to come after I got cleaned and changed.

　　The walk to the hotel was quick with my long and angry strides, and I moved straight into the bathroom.

　　As I ran myself a quick shower to get rid of the smoke and dirt, a thought that I had refused to consider ever since rose in my mind again.

　　If Collin wasn't going to come to a compromise, then there was really only one decision left.